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Announcement
Thank you for your interest in natural-dyed, hand-dyed, Humboldt, CA-made farmstead yarn. Lost Coast Yarn is made from hand-picked, locally-sourced fleece, milled in the USA, and hand-dyed at my Humboldt, CA home using only natural, wildcrafted, or locally-cultivated dyes. Lost Coast Yarn is your source for local, handcrafted yarn!

Announcement

Thank you for your interest in natural-dyed, hand-dyed, Humboldt, CA-made farmstead yarn. Lost Coast Yarn is made from hand-picked, locally-sourced fleece, milled in the USA, and hand-dyed at my Humboldt, CA home using only natural, wildcrafted, or locally-cultivated dyes. Lost Coast Yarn is your source for local, handcrafted yarn!

About

A pot full of scotch broom flowers, which makes a greeny bright yellow dye. Scotch broom is an invasive plant here.

Several of my earliest dye experiments.

Skirting fleece on shearing day.

Bags of yarn just back from the mill.

Fleece on the hoof at Valley View Ranch, Petrolia, CA, on shearing day.

Natural Hand-Dyed Farmstead Yarn from Humboldt, CA

My lifelong obsession with beautiful yarn and producing what I use with my own hands with local materials became married together perfectly when I realized that local fiber producers sent their fleece to large wool pools and received next to nothing for them.

My philosophy has been to start small. I bought 6 sheep fleeces and 2 alpaca fleeces from my neighbors, and set about learning how to work with fiber. I taught myself how to skirt fleece, design yarn from the fiber up by learning to handspin, and figured out where to send the fleece for spinning into yarn.

Once the yarn returned from the mill, I taught myself how to dye it. I began by trying out native and naturalized local plants, such as scotch broom (an invasive plant), eucalyptus, black walnut, and fennel. Many of them produce decent dyes, but I also really love bright color, so I branched out to more traditional natural dyes, such as indigo, madder, and logwood. My dyestuff source is Aurora Silk in Oregon. Owner Cheryl Kolander only buys her dyes from Fair Trade sources.

This year (year 3), I bought 13 wool fleeces and 4 alpaca fleeces. I do my dyework on my back patio while my kids are at school on Tuesdays. I fire up the stove and get to work mordanting and cooking dyes, and moving skeins around all day. Once they dry, in a few days, I label them and put them away. I am always dreaming up new color combinations, and methods to try creating the effects I want.

For now, I work with Mora Valley Spinning Mill in Mora, NM, a non-profit mill, whose mission is to support traditional fiber arts in their rural area. I am hoping to begin working with a mill much closer to home, in neighboring Mendocino County, when they open sometime next year, to reduce the footprint of my product further.

I have always been a champion of locally-produced goods, so creating this product from the ground up is really inspiring for me. Once I have created and dyed the yarn, then I can begin knitting sweaters, scarves, hats, and other goodies using the fruits of my labors. It was a huge moment when I knitted myself a sweater with 100% Humboldt-grown wool, dyed with local black walnut hulls, and scotch broom dyes.

Offering my wares here allows others to produce lovely, locally-flavored garments from a sustainably-produced yarn. I invite you to browse these yarns and to get busy creating!

Shop members

Amanda Malachesky

Owner, Designer, Creator

Amanda has been knitting since she was 10, which means she has now been knitting for almost 30 years! An avid knitter of socks, sweaters, lace shawls, and scarves, and now dyer extraordinaire, she lives in Petrolia, CA with her husband and 2 kids.

Shop policies

All my yarns are produced from Humboldt County, California wool and alpaca fiber. I purchase fiber directly from farmers. I design the yarns based on the qualities of the fiber. After it returns from the mill, I hand mordant and dye the yarns in small batches, using all natural dyes. This is a completely natural product!

Accepted payment methods

Apple Pay

Accepts Etsy Gift Cards and Etsy Credits

Money Order

Returns and exchanges

A full refund will be issued for any reason for 30 days from date of purchase. Merchandise must be returned in saleable condition with the tags still attached.

Payment

For credit card, debit, or PayPal, payment is due at the time of purchase.
For a money order purchase, I will mail your shipment once I receive your payment.

Current CA sales tax will be included with each order.
You may cancel your order if I have not yet mailed it.

Shipping

Shipping is by US Priority Mail. Up to 1.5 pounds (6 skeins) of yarn may be shipped at the shown rate. Beyond 1.5 pounds, the shipping cost may increase.

Return shipping is the responsibility of the buyer.

Expedited shipping is available at market rate.

Additional policies and FAQs

COLOR LOTS: All yarn products are hand-dyed with natural dyes. Because of this, color varies from skein to skein, and definitely batch to batch. Please purchase enough yarn to finish your project, as I cannot guarantee I will have more in stock.

COLOR BLEED: Additionally, though every effort has been made to remove excess dye from the yarn, certain colors will continue to "bleed" color for the first few washes, and may also discolor your knitting needles, and even your hands while you work it.

WASHING INSTRUCTIONS: All yarns and projects made from them should be washed by hand, by soaking in warm water with a little pH neutral soap, gently squeezing out the water, rinsing in similar temperature water, and then laying flat to dry.